Stu's Hunt Down: Former Wolves point guard Jonny Flynn

Blog Post by: Michael Rand

February 22, 2013 - 12:21 PM

Remember when the Wolves used top-6 picks in back-to-back years on these guys from Syracuse! Hilarious!

Commenter RandBallsStu (branding!) every week seeks out a former Minnesota sports figure about whom you might have otherwise forgotten. This usually involves a decent amount of Internet research over lunch. Stu?

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The Hunt Down

Name: Jonny Flynn

Claim to Fame, Minnesota: the Timberwolves’ second first-round pick of the 2009 NBA Draft and the sixth pick overall. The point guard was drafted immediately after Minnesota’s first pick, point guard Ricky Rubio, and gave birth to a thousand “all of your point guards are belong to us” joke variations. Despite a rookie season that showed flashes of promise (he was even named All-Rookie second team), Flynn and his magnetic smile struggled mightily to hold down the fort while the franchise waited for Ricky. Following offseason hip surgery, Flynn’s second season with the Wolves was an unmitigated disaster, and he never justified his high draft selection. Flynn and Donatas Motiejunas were eventually sent to Houston for Brad Miller and draft picks during the 2011 draft.

Players the Wolves Could Have Taken Instead of Flynn: Stephen Curry (#8), Brandon Jennings (#10), Jrue Holiday (#17), Ty Lawson (#18, also drafted by the Wolves before being traded to Denver), Darren Collison (#21), Dante Cunningham (#33), DeJuan Blair (#37) and Chase Budinger (#44). This is a partial list.

Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: the Niagara Falls native was named New York State’s Mr. Basketball in 2007 and had a celebrated run during his two years at Syracuse, particularly in his sophomore year, when he led the Orange to the finals of the Big East Tournament. The game everyone remembers is Syracuse’s 6-OT victory over UConn in the quarterfinals. Flynn played a game-high 67 minutes with a line of 34 points, 11 assists and six steals. They would get to the Sweet Sixteen before being eliminated by Blake Griffin’s Oklahoma team.

How Many Other 2009 1st-Round Picks Are No Longer in the NBA? Probably a Lot, I Bet: nope, just one other one: Christian Eyenga, who was drafted by Cleveland with the 30th and final pick of the round. Everyone else is on an NBA roster as of this writing.

Boy. That’s Something: it really is.

Is He on Twitter:verified. Flynn hasn’t tweeted since last summer, though. Does Australia have social media? Why not?

Has He Been in a Twitter Fight with New Strib Blogger Patrick Reusse: no.

Glorious Randomness: when my oldest daughter took an interest in basketball, a Jonny Flynn t-shirt was the first piece of Timberwolves merch I bought her. It will pair well with her friend’s Troy Williamson jersey at their next ironic costume party.